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Saturday, December 01, 2012

Guest Blogger: Janet K. Halling on Her Favorite Character

It’s
funny how a character can reach out and grab you. Sometimes the character you end
up liking the most isn’t even the main one, not that protagonist into whom you
have sunk so much time and effort. You have mapped out their story, their
journey, their lessons and then
suddenly...a different character pops up and steals your heart.

Don’t
get me wrong, I really like Ella. She is like me in a lot of ways and unlike me
in a lot of other ways. I admire her determination and her drive, I cry over
her heartbreak and her struggles, and I roll my eyes at her stubborn streak
that is oh so familiar!

But
Matthew is my favorite. And he wasn’t even supposed to be in the book.

Matthew Searle is a U.S. marine,
stationed on Guadalcanal in 1942. It had been a year since Pearl Harbor and he joined
the marines because he was itching for a fight. The Japanese had scored a big victory
with the Pearl Harbor attack, but Matthew and his buddies were going to make
sure payback was swift and brutal.

But
WWII was supposed to be the Civil War in An
Unexpected Angel and I had selected Antietam, a battle fought in September
1862 for the scene. Matthew wasn’t named Matthew then, he was Elias and he was
much older and much more grizzled than Matthew.

When
it became obvious the scene wasn’t working, I knew I needed to move the battle.
A Civil War soldier is very different from a WWII marine, so Elias had to go
and Matthew took his place. Right from the start I really liked him, but it
wasn’t until I found this picture from the Library of Congress that he really
started to take shape. The photo is of a real WWII soldier. He is very young, absolutely
filthy, and completely exhausted. More than anything, he wants to go home. But there
is an unmistakable look of determination and raw courage in his eyes. I don’t
know the real soldier’s name, but to me, he is Matthew.

This
year marks the 70th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal. Marines
like Matthew were on the island 70 years ago today and many of them spent
Christmas there. Matthew’s scene in An
Unexpected Angel is my small way to remember them and say thank you.